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Baguette search day #6

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Last full day of core exercise.   The swell found us or did we find the swell?  

We have been doing the time warp all day long.  

It’s just a jump to the left

And step to the right

With your hands on the boat

Lock your knees in tight.. 

But its the floor you trust

Is driving you insane

Let’s do the Timewarp again. .. and again and again.

For every 3 meter wave that catches you off guard.

Finally found a rhythm that was semi-comfortable, and boat at a decent pace to arrive at daybreak the following morning.   There is a lot of charts and talk that its well marked and lit, can easily be done in the dark.  If the sea wasn’t as angry I imagine we would go that route, but with the sea state and possibly the swell at the pass, I just want to have a look and make sure there are no standing waves or big current coming out as we will be a few hours after slack tide when we arrive in the daylight.  

The Rocky Horror exercise routine was partially attributed to mother nature trying to make up for neptunes tempertantrum.  Neptune would make a bunch of racket and stir up the waves that splash and cover sugar shack completely..  Seemed like there was water falls at from every horizontal surface at points during the day.  The new solar panels were a water feature, salt water creating a curtain of water right in to the dinghy.   Mother nature must have felt sorry for us and promptly rinsed it off with drive thru boat wash, and then showed us she still cared with many colorful signs. 

Reward or Apology?

Then it got to be a competition, I think neptune must have summoned up some siblings and started make waves from a couple directions at once.  

Spicy cajun pasta for dinner, double checked the freezer we have indeed exhausted all the swine related products. My favorite is to show the bio officers the Trader Joe’s veggie chorizo, that always confuses everyone.   Looks like pork but…  🙂 

All good, another 12-15hrs and it’ll be time to find a cold beverage, a hot shower, and a bed that doesn’t try and throw you like an 8 second bull, and of course the long awaited fresh baguette.  

Leaving NZ a 3rd time isn’t easy

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Time to head back to the tropics, well past time actually but Mother Nature had her own schedule.

Brrrrr

Saying good bye is never easy, but in sailing it’s till we meet again. Still doesn’t make it any easier after spending nearly more than a year and a half getting to know good people and making great friends in New Zealand. 🇳🇿. Will definitely miss them as this is possibly our last trip to these waters by sailboat.

We left New Zealand on Saturday June 6th with nearly 900 miles to go to New Caledonia. Was a bit bouncy with current and waves trying to keep us from leaving. We knew it was an uphill battle till we got clear of the island. After waiting for a month for a plausible weather window, getting excited and ready, only to realize the window just became a window with shutters this frosted window showed up. Not a crystal clear window, but a workable window.

The winds look good, the seas are bigger than we’d like but they are mostly going the same direction as us, except for the start.

At the last minute another system was showing up in the forecast a week out right between New Caledonia 🇳🇨 and Fiji 🇫🇯 . Ugh! Originally we were to wait so the start wasn’t into the current and waves, but leaving a day earlier added padding to the other end so scramble and push up the and that’s how we ended up out here.

Afternoon start, not much time to get sea legs before darkness set in.

Last NZ sunset

In search for baguettes,

Ocean Days and Starry Nights: Passage NZ to New Cal

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After patiently waiting (and occasionally refreshing weather models like it’s a full-time job), we are finally ready to start our passage from New Zealand to New Caledonia.

A good weather window has opened, and it’s time to go make use of it—heading out for 6–7 days of beautiful ocean sailing, starry nights, and the kind of quiet horizon that reminds you why you came to sea in the first place.

We’ve paused our scheduled blog posts for the duration of the passage.

Instead, Matt will be doing some “live blogging” along the way—real-time updates from the motion, the miles, and whatever the ocean decides to serve up.

Scheduled posts will resume on 16 June 2026, once we’re back in range of reliable internet (and slightly more stable footing).

In the meantime, you can follow our journey by heading to our website homepage, clicking “Current Location”, and then following the PredictWind link to track our progress across the blue.

Thank you for the continued support, messages, and encouragement—it means a lot to have you following along with our adventures aboard Sugar Shack.

Fair winds, and see you on the other side of the ocean.